Ralph C. Ellis
Date of Birth
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Ralph C. Ellis was a producer and Canadian television pioneer. He was best known for launching Fremantle of Canada in 1956 with American partners. He focused his 50-year career on independent production and distribution, most often nature documentaries, including Profiles of Nature and Audubon Wildlife Theater, the latter of which aired on U.S. television from 1968 to 1974.
His other credits included producing the TV documentaries To the Wild Country and Mother Nature Tales of Discovery. He also contributed as an executive producer to the scripted series Adventures in Rainbow Country. The show ran from 1969 to 1970 and followed the story of a family who lived at a hunting and fishing lodge in Ontario, Canada.
Ellis was born in Nova Scotia, and served in the Canadian Air Force during World War II. He began his career in television production in 1946 at the National Film Board of Canada. In 1956, he co-founded Fremantle of Canada. The company distributed television from U.S.-based Fremantle International, as well as Australian and British TV.
Ralph C. Ellis was a producer and Canadian television pioneer. He was best known for launching Fremantle of Canada in 1956 with American partners. He focused his 50-year career on independent production and distribution, most often nature documentaries, including Profiles of Nature and Audubon Wildlife Theater, the latter of which aired on U.S. television from 1968 to 1974.
His other credits included producing the TV documentaries To the Wild Country and Mother Nature Tales of Discovery. He also contributed as an executive producer to the scripted series Adventures in Rainbow Country. The show ran from 1969 to 1970 and followed the story of a family who lived at a hunting and fishing lodge in Ontario, Canada.
Ellis was born in Nova Scotia, and served in the Canadian Air Force during World War II. He began his career in television production in 1946 at the National Film Board of Canada. In 1956, he co-founded Fremantle of Canada. The company distributed television from U.S.-based Fremantle International, as well as Australian and British TV.
In 1964, he launched K.E.G. Productions, with partners Jerry Kedey and Dan Gibson. He also launched his own distribution company, Ralph C. Ellis Enterprises, which brought the British series Coronation Street, Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown to Canada.
Ellis earned more than 100 domestic and international program awards during his career, and in 1997 he was named to the Order of Canada.
Ellis died May 16, 2016, in Canada. He was 91.
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